Two clinical second half goals killed off Palace's hopes of grabbing their first win in six games.

An impressive strike by Michael Gray gave the visitors a 76th-minute lead, before substitute Kevin Kyle rounded it off with Wolves' second with a minute of normal time remaining.

The one bright spot on a depressing afternoon was the performance of Paul Ifill, who looked sharp and full of ideas as a second half substitute. 

Buoyed by his side's impressive draw at Bristol City last week, Palace manager Neil Warnock went with an unchanged side for the visit of Wolves.

That meant again lining up with a 4-5-1 formation which saw Shefki Kuqi deployed as a lone frontman and Tom Soares and Lee Hills selected as rigth and left midfielders respectively.

An eventless first half gave way to the games's first real chance, which fell to Palace on 10 minutes. Hills' long throw was nodded by Mark Hudson into the path of Soares, who headed wide of the post. 

Nine minutes later, Wolves posed a threat of their own when Stephen Elliott's effort was tipped over by Eagles stopper Julian Speroni.

From the resulting corner, Wanderers came much closer. Darren Potter's cross was glanced inches wide by Jody Craddock. 

However, the opening half-hour was generally a staid affair. Ben Watson tried to inject some life into proceedings when he followed up a decent tackle with a marauding run through the midfield on 32 minutes. But his subsequent shot was well off target.

Hills was Palace's liveliest player on show in the first half, and his run down the left forced a clearance that opened upa  shooting opportunity for Carl Fletcher, but his low shot was comfortably saved by Wayne Hennessey.

At the other end, Potter had a good look at goal on the stroke of half time, but his mis-hit shot summed up a 45 minutes to forget.

There was little improvement in the second half, though only a poor first touch from Potter prevented Wolves from having a clear opening on 49 minutes.

Five minutes later, Watson's shot was blocked and fell nicely for Fletcher, who drove a low effort just wide of the post. 

But Palace needed a change and Warnock obliged by introducing Clinton Morrison and Ifill to proceedings on 58 minutes. They replaced Hills and Soares as Palace went for a more attacking 4-3-3 system.

Five minutes later, Ifill provided a pinpoint cross for Kuqi, whose header finished well over the bar.

On 69 minutes, Warnock made his last substitution by replacing Kuqi with James Scowcroft. Ifill again weaved some magic two minutes later, delivering a dangerous cross into the box that was marginally too high for Fletcher to get on the end of.

Wolves took the lead after 76 minutes with a moment of magic totally out-of-keeping with the rest of the game. Shaun Derry was caught in possession but Potter's shot was blocked by Lawrence. However, the ball fell for Gray on the right hand side. The winger turned inside and unleashed an unstoppable left-footed strike that found its way into the top right-hand corner of Speroni's net.

Palace's best chance of getting back into the game appeared to rest with Ifill, whose improvisation on 83 minutes culminated with a shot that forced Hennessey to clear his lines.

The visiting stopper was taken off with a head injury on 87 minutes following a clash with Hudson but, unlike Palace's bench, the visitors had a ready-made goalkeeping replacement in Graham Stack. 

It was his fellow substitute, Kyle, who sealed the game for Wolves in the 89th-minute. A hopeful through ball fell for the striker, who was positioned between Palace's two centre backs. His first touch evaded Hudson's challenge and, with Lawrence out of the picture, he fired home a delightful shot that bounced into the corner. 

There were six minutes of injury time allotted, but no way back for Palace.

In fact, Wolves could have emulated the hosts and replicated their 3-0 win at Molineux last month when, in the first minute of stoppage time, Potter fired against the bar.

Ifill, named Palace's Man of the Match, was again thwarted by the Wolves stopper as a disappointing afternoon concluded without a consolation goal.

Attendance: 15,679 (Away 1300).

Palace: Speroni; Butterfield, Hill, Hudson (c), Lawrence; Soares (Ifill 58), Fletcher, Derry, Watson, Hills (Morrison 58); Kuqi (Scowcroft 69).
Subs not used: Scowcroft, Fonte, Scannell.
Booked: Kuqi 40, Fletcher 68.